The Fractional CFO is responsible for Virtually There’s financial management, control, and reporting. The primary objective is to lead the finance function during a period of transition, ensuring that the "foundations" (P&L, Cashflow, Balance Sheet and Compliance) are robust, accurate and scalable. Alongside the functional finance "engine", the Fractional CFO provides high-level commercial insight and strategic support to the CEO, ensuring the business is partner- and investor-ready and supporting analysis and data-driven decisions on pricing and growth.
This is a high-execution role. Alongside the Accounts Assistant, you will personally manage the day-to-day financial engine, from transaction-level entry to Board-level reporting.
Key Responsibilities
Financial Leadership & Hands-On Management
- End-to-End Accounting: Personally execute the month-end close, including all journal postings, prepayments, accruals, and depreciation to ensure a reconciled Balance Sheet.
- Ledger & Payment Management: Oversee sales and purchase ledgers; execute payment runs, manage supplier queries, and maintain rigorous control over aged creditors.
- Bank & Cash Control: Perform daily bank reconciliations and manage "bottom-up"cashflow with high precision.
- Revenue & SaaS Metrics: Manually calculate revenue recognition (deferred/accrued
income) for SaaS/Subscription contracts and report on key metrics (MRR/ARR/Churn).
- Reporting & Insight: Produce the monthly management accounts and Board packs, providing variance analysis and financial performance evaluation(s).
- Statutory Compliance & Tax: Prepare and submit on-time VAT returns; provide ground-up data for Corporation Tax and UK R&D tax credit claims.
- Systems & External Audit: Serve as lead administrator for Xero and finance integrations (GoCardless, Stripe for example); act as the primary contact for auditors, tax specialists, and corporate stakeholders.Payroll, Pension & HR Administration Oversight
- Accountability: Senior owner for payroll accuracy, ensuring all inputs are verified and integrated correctly with HR.
- Pension Governance: Ensure full compliance with Auto-Enrolment obligations and Pensions Regulator requirements.
- Audit-Readiness: Maintain secure, compliant employee financial records (contracts, T&Cs, and salary changes), ensuring they are audit-ready.Commercial Insight & CEO Support
- Unit Economics: Track and analyze the metrics that drive value: CAC, LTV, Payback periods, Churn and Channel Profitability.
- Strategic Partnering: Act as a "sounding board" for the CEO, providing financial validation for new commercial initiatives or international expansion.
- Pricing & Margin: Analyse revenue streams to identify opportunities for pricing optimisation, margin improvement, and cost-efficiency.
- Budgeting & Planning: Lead the annual budgeting and quarterly re-forecasting processes, aligning financial plans with the company’s scaling ambitions.Investor Readiness & Transaction Support
- Data Room Management: Build and maintain a robust financial data room to support future fundraising or exit activities.
- Due Diligence: Lead the financial response for any due diligence queries from lenders or investors.
- Fundraising Support: Assist the CEO with valuation modeling and the financial narrative for investor presentations.
Team Transition & Handover
- Operational Stability: Document all finance processes to ensure no loss of institutional knowledge during the recruitment of the permanent Head of Finance.
- Onboarding: Support the CEO in interviewing and successfully onboarding the permanent successor.Required Skills & Experience
- Qualified Accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA) with extensive post-qualified experience.
- Hands-on Controller Background: You must be comfortable with the "granularity" of theaccounts before moving to the "strategy."
- SaaS/Subscription Experience: Deep understanding of recurring revenue models andcohort analysis.
- Growth Stage Exposure: Proven track record in businesses scaling from £5m to £25m+turnover and experience with Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) environments.
- Systems Proficiency: Expert user of modern accounting software (e.g. Xero) and advancedExcel/financial modelling tools.Key Behaviours
- Hands-on: A can-doer, positive approach, and team player.
- Low Ego / High Execution: You are happy to manage manual data entry and administrative tasks with the same rigour as strategic planning.
- Detail-Oriented: A "right first time" mentality regarding the books and compliance.
- Reliable Partner: A calm, structured approach that brings order to a fast-paced environment.
- Commercial Grit: The ability to look past the numbers to see the operational reality they represent.
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Bristol (Bristol, Bristol)
